Writing The 21st Narcissus
What was your inspiration for this script? What compelled you to write it?
I was really sick of seeing media that treated the internet like a scary thing or something that people should warn their kids about. That’s not the reality of how we interact with the internet every day. The internet is here and it’s here to stay.
I also wanted to convey how young people, of which I am still sort of one of, use social media to form connections in ways that we can’t in the real world and what that means. There’s no point moralizing or judging it, but I want to present it how it actually is and let the audience judge for themselves.
What are the key themes or messages of the play, and how are the characters used to convey these themes?
Connection is the main theme in the play. All three plots are about connecting people with other people, and even though social media has changed so much about how we make connections, it’s still rooted in human emotions that have always been there.
With Kyle, it’s him connecting with an anonymous group of ‘fans’ and what that means for him and his own sense of self. With the Twitter girls, it’s about them connecting over being a fan of this one popstar. They find each other through their tweets about her, and form a friendship because of that. With the two Facebook people, it’s them connecting with each other in a way that they possibly couldn’t in real life, the screen that separates them actually allows them the personal safety to connect over things they haven’t been able to connect to people with in real life.
What is the central conflict of the play?
The central conflict of the play is externalised, but in any other play it would be an internal conflict within the characters; the central conflict is about connection and the barriers to that connection.
With Kyle, the barriers to his connection with his ‘fans’ is his own confidence, or lack thereof, and it’s up to the audience to decide if that is really a good thing.
With the Twitter girls, the barrier to their connecting with each other (and their favourite popstar) is the sheer amount of people on Twitter, which is represented by the chorus.
With Facebook, Jordan’s barrier to connection is his own eagerness to be liked and to present himself as the best person he can be, rather than who he really is whereas Julia’s barrier is her own reticence to be honest with this person and make a connection.
Tell me more about the use of social media statuses, chats, pics, and AV as a storytelling device.
I think theatre needs to start using the way we communicate every day in order to stay relevant and up to date, whether it’s actually communications like Facebook chat or email or the more micro communications like images, tweets or Snapchats. It’s opening up an entire new language for theatre to find meaning and profundity in. With Facebook especially I’ve been really considerate of paying attention to how people talk on Facebook, with all the gaps and all the typos and all the abbreviations that people actually use, and what it means for the people behind the screens. A simple ellipsis can mean so much more than an entire monologue.
What is your writing process? Where do you get ideas, and how do you go about putting them on paper to complete the script?
I tend to start ideas either from a theme I want to explore, like social media or connection, or from a character, like Kyle. I can tell that an idea is there where I have a solid idea of a theme, and what I want to say about that, and when I can think of a real human person to connect with that theme.
Writing The 21st Narcissus was a completely different process for me because of the three separate plotlines. I had to write each in separation, and then bring them together slowly, figuring out where certain scenes felt right tonally and in terms of the pace. If you put too many Facebook scenes together, the pace would drag needlessly, but if you put too many Twitter scenes together then they would be less funny. Because there is no strict chronology to the script, it was figuring out how one plot comments on and informs the rest just by being next to it, making sure that the script was more than the sum of its parts.
What advice do you have for aspiring theatre practitioners or writers?
I was really sick of seeing media that treated the internet like a scary thing or something that people should warn their kids about. That’s not the reality of how we interact with the internet every day. The internet is here and it’s here to stay.
I also wanted to convey how young people, of which I am still sort of one of, use social media to form connections in ways that we can’t in the real world and what that means. There’s no point moralizing or judging it, but I want to present it how it actually is and let the audience judge for themselves.
What are the key themes or messages of the play, and how are the characters used to convey these themes?
Connection is the main theme in the play. All three plots are about connecting people with other people, and even though social media has changed so much about how we make connections, it’s still rooted in human emotions that have always been there.
With Kyle, it’s him connecting with an anonymous group of ‘fans’ and what that means for him and his own sense of self. With the Twitter girls, it’s about them connecting over being a fan of this one popstar. They find each other through their tweets about her, and form a friendship because of that. With the two Facebook people, it’s them connecting with each other in a way that they possibly couldn’t in real life, the screen that separates them actually allows them the personal safety to connect over things they haven’t been able to connect to people with in real life.
What is the central conflict of the play?
The central conflict of the play is externalised, but in any other play it would be an internal conflict within the characters; the central conflict is about connection and the barriers to that connection.
With Kyle, the barriers to his connection with his ‘fans’ is his own confidence, or lack thereof, and it’s up to the audience to decide if that is really a good thing.
With the Twitter girls, the barrier to their connecting with each other (and their favourite popstar) is the sheer amount of people on Twitter, which is represented by the chorus.
With Facebook, Jordan’s barrier to connection is his own eagerness to be liked and to present himself as the best person he can be, rather than who he really is whereas Julia’s barrier is her own reticence to be honest with this person and make a connection.
Tell me more about the use of social media statuses, chats, pics, and AV as a storytelling device.
I think theatre needs to start using the way we communicate every day in order to stay relevant and up to date, whether it’s actually communications like Facebook chat or email or the more micro communications like images, tweets or Snapchats. It’s opening up an entire new language for theatre to find meaning and profundity in. With Facebook especially I’ve been really considerate of paying attention to how people talk on Facebook, with all the gaps and all the typos and all the abbreviations that people actually use, and what it means for the people behind the screens. A simple ellipsis can mean so much more than an entire monologue.
What is your writing process? Where do you get ideas, and how do you go about putting them on paper to complete the script?
I tend to start ideas either from a theme I want to explore, like social media or connection, or from a character, like Kyle. I can tell that an idea is there where I have a solid idea of a theme, and what I want to say about that, and when I can think of a real human person to connect with that theme.
Writing The 21st Narcissus was a completely different process for me because of the three separate plotlines. I had to write each in separation, and then bring them together slowly, figuring out where certain scenes felt right tonally and in terms of the pace. If you put too many Facebook scenes together, the pace would drag needlessly, but if you put too many Twitter scenes together then they would be less funny. Because there is no strict chronology to the script, it was figuring out how one plot comments on and informs the rest just by being next to it, making sure that the script was more than the sum of its parts.
What advice do you have for aspiring theatre practitioners or writers?
- Read as much as you can about theatre, whether it’s plays or good criticism, read it. Figure out what you like and don’t like, and you’ll develop your voice and craft that much faster and easy.
- Learn how to take a note. If someone is giving you a note, it’s because they want to help. I’m not saying take all the notes, that’s as bad as not taking any notes, but acknowledge where the note is coming from, consider it and choose whether it’s right for the piece you’re working on.